The one in the hanging basket looks pretty good. One almost looks
ready for eating.

What size is that hanging basket would you say?? Looks to be close to a 1 gallon container or so?

I ask because (as Im sure you saw in my other post) Im going to try an indoor grow and am wondering if maybe the 2 gallon buckets Im planning on using are too small. Yours seem to have produced well in a small container though ...

BTW thanks for all the input on my questions .. I really appreciate it.

I hope I am not posting too many pics. I am not sure of gallons so I show the dimensions of the hanging pot and planter. The hanging pot is not big in my opinion and I am surprised that the planter produced 3 healthy producing plants - it is very small as you can see but look closely - there are many peppers there.

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Ozzz I hope you don't mind but I cut and pasted your question here for all to partcipate in/contribute to.
"Do you think I would be better off going with 9 plants in 2 gallon buckets or 6 plants in 5 gallon buckets? Yield wise??
Even if I got 8 pods a piece off the two gallon buckets thats still 70 some pods. Of course maybe in a 5 gallon bucket each plant might give me 20 pods or so in which case thats the clear way to go lol."

Can you tell me the dimensions of the 2 gallon bucket and 5 gallon bucket? My answer would depend on size.

Take care,

Ravi

I guess it really matters how deep the peppers roots will penetrate. The typical 5 gallon bucket is about 14 inches high with a diameter of 12 inches wide.

And just by basic math the 2 gallon bucket will have 2 and a half times less volume of soil. But if in fact if the pepper plant and soil type wont allow the roots to sink 14 inches down, maybe that extra depth is a waste anyway?

Here is a link to buckets! I guess the two gallon is about nine and half high by 9 and a half diameter.

Here is a link that might be useful: Buckets

I dont mind at all Ravi, and thanks once again.

The 2 gallon buckets are 9.5" wide, and about 10" tall whereas the 5 gallon buckets are 12" wide and 15" tall.

The thing is, this will be an indoor grow, and I only have so much area under the grow light. I currently have a 400w HPS which Ild like to use. I have been looking for an excuse to buy a digital 600 though so its not out of the question. In fact.. if I got the 600 maybe I could fit 9 in 5 gallon buckets lol.

Back to the question at hand though- The larger the container, obviously the larger the plant and larger the yield. However, with 5 gallon buckets Ill be stretching to fit 6 plants after considering how large they will grow. In the two gallon buckets I could fit 9 in my area with full growth.

Im just not sure which way to go for better yield...

How about 2 plants in 5 gallon buckets and 5 in 2 gallon buckets :) And you can test out the theory for us all :)

You will have two plants in buckets that have 2 and a half times more soil then then the 5 plants in the smaller buckets while in the meantime you will have two and half times more plants in the smaller buckets then the big bucket plants and the 2 the plants in the 5 gallon buckets will have exactly the same volume of soil as the 5 plants in the two gallon buckets.

A good idea in theory.... but I need the plants to be as close to the same height as possible for light penetration. By having the plants the same height I can keep the light as close to the tops of the plants as possible. Unfortunately I need to make a decision one way or another.

Sorry Ravi hope Im not hijacking your thread, you seem to have a lot of real world experience with these plants so Im curious as to what your thoughts are on the different container sizes.

I have a solution to the height problem.

Elevate the 2 gallon buckets to the same height as the 5 gallon buckets. You could use some bricks or frame something out of lumber fairly easily. Or a combination of bricks and lumber to achieve the desired height or whatever material u got access to for free or cheap.

Yes, sorry Ravi this has steered off original topic, by the way those are nice Bhut plants. I was just trying to offer some alternative possibilities to ozzz.

Ozzz how long do you plan on keeping these plants in buckets? Cause ya know those plants even if in different size buckets will grow at the same rate for quite many months. The difference will show when the 2 gallon bucket plants root system has maxed out the soil space which might not happen for a while. Then and only then will the 5 gallon bucket plants outgrow the 2 gallon bucket plants.

Not to worry guys - the endeavour is to share knowledge as much as possible as many others do here.
I have to make a disclaimer before stating my opinion - there are for sure more knowledgeable people than me here so take what I say with that in mind.
Having said that, my personal experience is that the DEPTH of the pot matters little in terms of fruit production at least regarding being TOO SHALLOW - witness the planter in the pics - the soil 5 inches deep and the planter tapers so it is thinner at the bottom. There are 3 plants with many fruit in that little thing. Of course there is width/length involved but not much in terms of volume. Being TOO DEEP may encourage the plant to grow prodigious roots and prevent plant/fruit growth - I really don't know, but it is something to consider.
So to answer your question - If it's me I go with more plants.I have never used HID lights so I don't know what other variables there are - I just use regular fluorescent bulbs over the plants.

Hope this is helpful,

Ravi

It is helpful, and pretty much what I have been leaning towards anyways. Ill update my results in my thread as I get sprouts and through the transplants.

In all actuality, I did some calculating and the buckets are aruond 2.3 gallons each anyway - and Ill be going with 9 plants. I think I am going to do this through the first harvest, then take the 6 best plants and put them into 5 gallon buckets and go from there.

Either that, or if I get enough pods to last awhile I may start over with a different strain and do another 9 plants in those same buckets. All indoors.

Thanks for all your help Ravi..